Former Halifax skipper and Hall of Famer Burnett dies aged 87

He first signed for Halifax from Pellon Juniors in 1953, though spent some of his early career on loan at Blackpool Borough, while he was in the Forces.

He went on to make 344 appearances for Halifax, scoring 130 tries, mostly from the centre position, though he appeared occasionally in the forwards at the end of his career. Such was his impact that he was inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame.

He developed into a clever, creative and big strong centre, forming partnerships with wingers such as Alan Snowden and Duncan Jackson, and centres such as Geoff Palmer and Colin Dixon.

He won representative honours with Yorkshire in the former County Championship, but the highlight of his time at Thrum Hall was leading his home-town club to the 1965 Championship Final, where St Helens were beaten 15-7 at Swinton, John scoring two of his side’s three tries.

He was back in the final the following season, though this time Saints exacted considerable retribution to win 35-12.

John was also a Yorkshire Cup Final and Eastern Region Championship Final winner, both in season 1963-64. He earned a Testimonial Year in 1964.

Having made his debut on January 16 1954, when he scored an interception try after just three minutes, his last appearance was on April 15 1967. He then joined Bradford Northern in an exchange deal with winger Brian Lord, though both retired as players soon afterwards.

John was a local pub landlord for a time, and also served Halifax RLFC as Commercial Manager.